Design Economics Podcast with Vinny Tafuro

Join us to discover how design thinking can revolutionize economics for the 21st century. Learn about the Institute for Economic Evolution's three tenets of design economics and meet the pioneering thinkers who are shaping this approach. From challenging economic orthodoxy to creating human-centered solutions, explore how design economics is evolving economics to better serve humanity and the environment.

Design Economics Podcast with Vinny Tafuro is a science podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Design Economics Podcast with Vinny Tafuro, a science show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #21

  EP 21 Jody Levison-Johnson: Five & Rising; The Economy's Unfunded Engine

  Aug 17, 20261h 6m

  When Vinny came across Jody Levison-Johnson's Forbes piece arguing that the social sector deserves to be treated as an economic engine, he reached out. That conversation became this episode. Jody is President and CEO of Social Current, a national network of nearly 1,800 human service organizations, and the founder of Five & Rising, a movement to revalue, reframe, and rebuild how the social sector is funded and supported. Together they trace how a sector representing 5.3% of U.S. GDP has been systematically funded like a workaround, what it would take to change that, and why getting there matters for every community. Guest Links Five & Rising Social Current Jody on LinkedIn Social Current on Instagram Referenced in this episode UnCharitable Film Dan Pallotta TED Talk Independent Sector Click here to view the episode transcript. ★ Support this podcast ★

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  Episode #20

  EP 20 Erin Hotchkiss: Fragments & Frameworks; Translating Silos Into Systems

  Jul 27, 20261h 1m

  Join host Vinny Tafuro and IEE board member Erin Hotchkiss for a special origin story episode celebrating ten years since the publication of Unlocking the Labor Cage. This episode traces how curious questions unearthed economic blindspots, leading to three tenets that unite fragmented movements. From care privilege and solidarity economics to B Corps and Employee Ownership Trusts, great ideas need common language. Through a conversation spanning the future of work, three transformative conferences in 2017-2018, and the founding of the Institute for Economic Evolution, Vinny and Erin explore why culture, not policy, determines whether a new economic paradigm takes hold. Creator & Guest Links Institute for Economic Evolution Design Economics Coalition Vinny Tafuro [ LinkedIn ] Erin Hotchkiss, IEE Board Member [ LinkedIn ] Books Unlocking the Labor Cage: Capitalism in the Twenty-First Century , Vinny Tafuro (2016) Referenced in This Episode Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) Conscious Capitalism B Corp Certification Institute for New Economic Thinking , Edinburgh (2017) Foundation for Economic Education , Atlanta (2018) Related DEP Episodes EP 0.1 Introducing Design Economics with Paula Seymour Click here to view the episode transcript. ★ Support this podcast ★

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  Episode #19

  EP 19 Misty Heggeness: Swiftynomics; Taylor Swift & the Women Economics Ignored

  Jul 6, 20261h 13m

  Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Misty Heggeness, associate professor at the University of Kansas, former principal economist at the U.S. Census Bureau, and author of Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy . Misty reveals how the economics profession has long ignored the contributions of women in the labor market, in households, and in the data itself. Through the lens of Taylor Swift's career and songwriting, Misty makes the case that pop culture isn't a detour from serious economics; it's an on-ramp. The conversation also explores care privilege, the CARE Board dashboard, and what it means to push feminist economics into the mainstream rather than accept a seat at the side table. Guest Links Swiftynomics Substack The Care Board Misty Heggeness at University of Kansas Misty on LinkedIn Book Swiftynomics: How Women Mastermind and Redefine Our Economy , Misty L. Heggeness Referenced in this episode Claudia Goldin , Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University Nancy Folbre , Director of Program on Gender and Care Work, PERI; Professor Emerita of Economics, UMass Amherst Shelly Lundberg , Leonard Broom Professor of Demography, Distinguished Professor of Economics, UC Santa Barbara Frances Perkins , U.S. Secretary of Labor 1933-1945 The 19th* newsroom Female Founders Fund The Economics of Taylor Swift (ECON 164/364) , University of Kansas Click here to view the episode transcript. ★ Support this podcast ★

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  Episode #18

  EP 18 Holly McCann: Growing Local; Blue Ridge Blueprint for a Local Food Economy

  Jun 15, 20261h 11m

  Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Holly McCann, co-founder and Core Steward of Blue Ridge Foodshed Commons, a public benefit company catalyzing a self-sustaining local food economy in Western North Carolina. Holly traces her path from Silicon Valley corporate attorney to regenerative systems designer, and explains why food is where you have to start when rebuilding an economy rooted in life rather than extraction. From the paradox of a region with 5,000 family farms that sources only 4% of its food locally, to a Perpetual Purpose Trust in development to protect the mission for generations, this episode explores what it looks like to design a regional food economy from the ground up. Guest Links Blue Ridge Foodshed Commons Holly McCann on LinkedIn Related DEP Episode EP 12 John Feldman: Documenting Revolution, Scientific Paradigm Shifts Books Mentioned Regenerative Economics: Revolutionary Thinking for a World in Crisis — John Fullerton (2025) Bioregional Financing Facilities: Reimagining Finance to Regenerate Our Planet — Samantha Power & Leon Seefeld, The BioFi Project (2024) — also available free at biofi.earth The Local Food Revolution: How Humanity Will Feed Itself in Uncertain Times — Michael Brownlee (2016) Organizations & Resources Mentioned The BioFi Project Capital Institute (John Fullerton) Foodshed Cultivator venture studio — launching June 17, 2026 ★ Support this podcast ★

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  Episode #17

  EP17 Masami Sato: Woven In; Embedding Impact by Design

  May 26, 202658 minS0

  <p>Join host Vinny Tafuro for a conversation with Masami Sato, founder and CEO of B1G1, a Singapore-based social enterprise and certified B Corp that has generated over 395 million giving impacts across more than 50 countries. Masami traces her path from a shy, introverted young woman who left Japan at 20 with little money and no English, to food entrepreneur, to living alongside farmers in rural communities, and explains how each of those experiences led to a single transformative insight: that lasting change isn't built through grand gestures or deferred philanthropy, but through small, intentional actions woven into the everyday fabric...

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